Title: Skyfall
Directed by: Sam Mendes
Distributed by: MGM / Columbia
Release Date: November 9, 2012
Rated: PG-13
Synopsis: Bond’s loyalty to M is tested as her past comes back to haunt her. As MI6 comes under attack, 007 must track down and destroy the threat, no matter how personal the cost. (Via IMDB)
Brian: I’m not going to beat around the bush. Skyfall is The Dark Knight of the James Bond series, one of the best five Bond movies in the series’ 50-year run, and one of the top ten films of 2012. Skyfall is brilliant filmmaking, a near-perfect update of the James Bond legacy that works as a stand-alone action film as well as it does a treat for longtime Bond fanatics like myself. A fanatic, you ask? Uhh, yeah. For the past two years – yes, years – I’ve watched every single film in the series, from 1962′s Dr. No to 2008′s Quantum of Solace, in preparation for Skyfall. Very few of the twenty-two films sucked, but very few were truly great as well. The only films in the series I unconditionally love are Goldfinger, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, and Goldeneye. Casino Royale, the intro to Daniel Craig’s take on the character that was released in 2006, was a return to form for the series after a couple of Pierce Brosnan clunkers, but then the series took a sharp nosedive in Solace, which, for me, is the worst entry in the entire series (yes, even worse than A View to A Kill). Skyfall had a lot to live up to, and let me guarantee you that it succeeds in every way. I loved, loved, LOVED this movie.
Shaunta: I have a confession to make. I’ve never really been a James Bond fan. I watched the last new one at the theater with my husband and it made so little impact on me that I don’t even remember what it was called. The trailer for Skyfall was so amazing, though, that I was really looking forward to watching it. There were things about this movie that I absolutely loved. Daniel Craig and Judi Dench were amazing. I loved that they were both allowed to be aging. They were both very human characters and I loved that. The opening, with Adele’s song, was INCREDIBLE. The setting, in particular the titular decrepit Scottish mansion, Skyfall, that James Bond grew up in, was great. I love a movie or book that takes me somewhere, and this movie definitely did that. I thought it was interesting to have this movie reboot the James Bond franchise, while one of its plots involved deciding whether the old school could be replaced by the new school in the spy game.
Brian: Sam Mendes (American Beauty), one of my
all-time favorite directors, took his first step into the action genre with this movie, and one of the reasons the movie works so well as a whole is that he focuses way more
on the characters and the relationships than any Bond director ever has before. This cast doesn’t hurt, either. Don’t be fooled in thinking just any director could have assembled this killer cast. Not only is Daniel Craig firmly comfortable in the role now, and not only is Judi Dench finally given a meaty part in this, her seventh Bond film, but Oscar nominee Ralph Fiennes and Oscar winner Javier Bardem and cutie patootie Ben Whishaw are along for the ride this time. Fiennes is at a times comforting and at times cold, and Bardem makes for easily one of the top five James Bond villains in the series’ entire canon. Part Hannibal Lector, part Joker, part gay, and part awesome, Bardem creates a villain as memorable and deliciously evil as his Anton in No Country for Old Men. Finally, Whishaw, who just appeared in Cloud Atlas, is a welcome addition as the new, much younger Q. The movie has the same dramatic power of Casino Royale, especially in the spectacular final hour, but it’s also the funniest Daniel Craig Bond adventure yet, with plenty of nods to previous Bond outings, and a moment with Craig, Dench, and an ejector seat, that left me in tears from laughter. In the end, this isn’t your dad’s James Bond. This is an update in every shape and form, with more emphasis on story and characters than on action, gadgets, and babes. This is a whole new Bond, and I couldn’t be happier. Even the theme song, co-penned and sung by Adele, is the best Bond tune in at least twenty years. Everything came together for this Bond outing, especially poignant considering 2012 marks 50 years for the never-ending series. I for one wouldn’t mind seeing another 50. I love this series, and I love Skyfall. I can’t wait to see it again.
Shaunta: Well, this certainly wasn’t YOUR dad’s James Bond! (I crack myself up!) Javier Bardem definitely had the Hanibal Lector thing down. You know what I mean, that way of being half normal–but the other half makes you want to spend the rest of your life hiding in your closet. I don’t have a James Bond background, so I didn’t have a lot of baggage to overcome with the reboot. Skyfall was action-packed and smart, in the same vein as The Bourne Identity, rather than being an over-the-top, spy-gadget fest full of sex and fast cars. For the first time in my life, I’m looking forward to the next James Bond movie. My one criticism is that there was a scene where James Bond climbs into the shower with a woman and it felt to me like someone decided that someone decided to throw in a Bond-like sex scene, like it or not. It just didn’t ring true to me and was borderline creepy. It was a short moment though, and on the whole, this was a really fun, exciting film that I enjoyed immensely.
